Among the variety of alicyclic compounds which can be used according to the present invention, 4-isopropenylcyclohexylmethanol is a naturally occurring compound. Both its cis and trans isomers have been in fact identified in the essential oil of Perilla acuta var. viridis. More precisely, these isomers were found to occur in the essential oil in the proportion of 2-8% and up to 0.6% by weight, respectively, depending on the origin and the purity of the said essential oil -- see Nippon Nogei Kagaku Kaishi 1970, 428, reported in Chem. Abstr. 74, 57198 (1971).
It has now been first discovered that, with respect to their odoriferous and gustative properties, both the cis and trans isomers greatly differ from perilla oil. They equally differ from known perilla aldehyde, the major constituent thereof. Perilla aldehyde has been currently used in perfumery and in the flavour industry in order to confer a typically spicy, fatty and slightly green note to the products in which it has been incorporated -- cf. S. Arctander, Perfumes and Flavor Chemicals, Montclair, N.J. (1969) and E. Glide -- meister & F. Hoffmann, Die Aetherischen Oele, Akademie Verlag, Berlin 1956.
EQually it has now been discovered that the odoriferous properties of cis-4-isopropenyl-cyclohexylmethanol greatly differ from those of its corresponding trans isomer. Whereas trans-4-isopropenyl-cyclohexylmethanol may be characterized by a "chemical" odour, e.g. reminiscent of that of phenol or that of certain aromatic hydrocarbons, cis-4-isopropenyl-cyclohexylmethanol possesses an original flowery odour reminiscent of that developed by the lily of the valley. This particularly pleasant odour possesses moreover a slightly diffused animal undertone reminiscent of certain aspects of the odour of castoreum.
In the field of flavours on the contrary, the above two isomers do not differ so much one from the other. Both the cis and trans isomers may be characterized by a flowery gustative note which in the case of cis-4-isopropenyl-cyclohexylmethanol possesses a slightly green character. Trans-4-isopropenyl-cyclohexylmethanol possesses in addition a more or less pronounced woody character.